OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES:

BENEFITS & CHALLENGES

David HermanWashington State UniversityJanuary 2017

This presentation is a derivative of “OERs: Benefits and Challenges” by Kelli White-Mellish licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

INTRODUCTION

▶Open educational resources (OER) could be the solution to issues faculty members face when selecting low cost, high quality materials for their courses. ▶At the same time, the use of

OER, as with any new concept, brings challenges to faculty, students, and developers.

"OER_Logo" is in the Public Domain

BENEFIT: COST▶ Prices of published textbooks

continue to rise, causing financial challenges for students.

▶ OER sources are free for students to use online, and in some cases, download.

"Money - Savings" by 401(K) 2012 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

BENEFIT:CUSTOMIZATION

▶ Although some publishers allow instructors to create custom texts, omitting materials they don’t want to include, most texts are “one size fits all.” Sections of the book that the student pays for may not be used.

▶ OER allows instructors to select and use materials in whole or in part. They can pick and choose information to support their courses’ learning objectives.

"IMG_1713" by Daren is licensed under CC BY 2.0

BENEFIT:AUTHORSHIP

▶ Many instructors who do not aspire to write and publish texts DO create a variety of materials for their own students: exercises, exams, videos, and more.

▶ OER allows instructors to share their work with a wider audience, benefitting other students (and instructors) as well"Copyright.svg" is in the Public Domain

BENEFIT:GROWTH &

CHANGE

▶ Traditional textbooks are static. Once an edition is published, it is set in stone (at least until the next edition).

▶ OER allows instructors to grow and change materials from quarter to quarter (or even week to week). If something isn’t working, it can be changed. If material in the field changes, the course material can easily be altered."This work" is in the Public Domain, CC0

BENEFIT: EQUITY ▶ Attending college and

obtaining an education is expensive. Exploring interests and learning “for fun” can be expensive, too.

▶ OER allows students in all income brackets, all over the world, to access high quality materials in a multitude of subjects—for free!

"hands-culture-diversity-equity-157947" is in the Public Domain, CC0

CHALLENGE: TIME ▶As exciting as it is for

instructors to create and share their own materials or have the ability to freely access OER materials,

▶THIS TAKES TIME (and I used to think reviewing new texts was time-consuming!)

"alarm-clock-clock-time-minute-hour-590383" is in the Public Domain, CC0

CHALLENGE:QUALITY

ASSURANCE

▶ Although published textbooks are not without flaws, because publishers invest a ton of money in them, the authors are generally experts in their fields, investing time and research in their subject areas.

▶ Many OER developers are also instructors in higher education, but it’s up to users to be sure the information is correct.

"approved-control-quality-stamp-147677" is in the Public Domain, CC0

"control-quality-rejected-stamp-147678" is in the Public Domain, CC0

CHALLENGE:ACCESSIBILITY

▶ Again, because publishers have deep pockets, instructors adopting course materials can be reasonably assured that accessibility standards will be met.

▶ Although many OER materials do meet accessibility standards, instructors need to be aware that some do not and to personally confirm that they do.

"Handicapped Accessible sign" is in the Public Domain, CC0

CHALLENGE:SUSTAINABILIT

Y▶ As OER is a “brave new

world,” institutions and organizations are funding the development of OER, encouraging faculty to participate, resulting in a steady growth of available materials.

▶ Over time, funding may decline, possibly decreasing the quality and availability of OERs.

"Sustainability graphic on Performance.gov" by neetalparekh is licensed under CC BY 2.0

CHALLENGE:NON-

REVOCABLE LICENSING

▶ Creative Commons licensing is non-revocable, meaning that once the author releases his/her work this way, he/she cannot stop people from using it—even if he/she decides to no longer make it available.

▶ This is not a problem for users of OER, but it may make potential contributors of works hesitant in sharing, resulting in fewer materials shared."no-u-turn-roadsigns-traffic-u-turn-26528" is in the

Public Domain

THE FUTURE OF OER

▶ The future of OER, though unknown, is exciting. It gives students, instructors, and material developers the opportunity to create, learn, and share—for free!

▶ Instructors interested in OER should invest a little time into learning more about it and consider if it could be right for their courses and students.

"the-future-next-exit" by Buck is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0